Artificial foot



5 simple construction, strong, light in weight,

Fatt-interi .lime 15, 1925.

y UNITEDSTATES ARTHUR n'. Gaines, OFYDENVER, COLORADO. i

ARTIFICIAL FOOT.

Application ined May 2:3, 19,25. serial No. 32,343.

This invention relates to improvements in artificial feet.

It is the object of this invention to .producean artificial toot that shail be of very easily controlled and which eliminates stump j ar and stump strain.

The above and other objects that will appear as the description proceeds are attained by means of a construction which I will now proceed to describe in' detail, reference for this purpose being had to the accompanying drawing in which the preferred embodiment or' my invention has been illustrated and in which: A

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through my improved foot;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom view looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1, a portion of the covering being removed so as to better show the construction;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on line 3 3, Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a section' taken on line @-4,

Fig. 1.

My wooden portions 1 and 2 glued together and reenforced by means of the member 3. The toe portion of the Voot is formed from a piece of felt 4, whose rear end 5 and the rear portion 6 Io whose upper surface are cemented to the walls of a rectangular notch formed in the front end of the member 2. It will be noticed that the felt toe portion extends a considerable distance to the iront ot the front end 7 of member 2 and this permits the tip of the felt to bend, thereby giving a toe movement which corresponds to lthat of a natural foot. The rear end of member 2 has a cut out portion having a vertical wall 8 and a horizontal wall 9. Directly to the front of the vertical wall 8 is a notch 10 having a top 11, side walls 12 and 13 and vertical front end wall 14. The heel portion consists of a wooden member 15 provided at its front end with a tongue 16 which projects into the notch 10 in the manner quite clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Member 15 is secured to member 2 by means of a speoiall constructed hinge which consists of a p ate 17 that is wider than the notch 10 and which is fastened to member 2 by means of four screws 18. The front endV limit ofmovement.

improved foot is formed from two' cured to the pin 2O between the -ends 19 and has .a threaded opening for the reception of the threaded end of `the bolt 22 Both of these'movements arefof great im# portance in obtaining a natural operation.

A felt pad 26 separates thev'plate 2li lfromv the hinge member v17 1). Secured to the upper side of the member 15 is a rubber cushion 27 ythat engages the surface 9 when ythe heell piece 15 reaches its upper A similar rubber cushion 28 is secured to the underside of the heel piece 15 by means of cement and a dovetail connection comprising the transverse bar 29. A helical compression spring 30 that is enclosed in a leathercasing 31 is located in a suitable opening in members 1 and 2 and has its lower end extending through the rub-r ber cushion 27 andy into engagement with V the -upper surface' of the member 15. The parts are enclosed in a leather covering consisting of two pieces 32 and 33 that are sewed together along the bottom in the man-v ner indicated by numeral 34 in Fig. 2. A stiff piece of leather 35 or other suitable material is attached along its upper edge to the member 2 and extends downwardly past member 15. This forms a guiding surface over which the movable heel member travels.

It will be seen from the above that my improved foot has several peculiarities of construction which areof great practical import-ance. In the first place the toe portion 4f extends forwardly beyond the foremost part of the rigid member 2 and is there-fore adapted to bend, giving a natural toe action. The heel portion comprising members 15, 27 and 28 has an up and down movement about the hinge pin 20 and is acted upon by the spring 30, giving a comfortable cushion eii'ect that prevent-s stump ar and stump strain. In case of suiiicient force being applied to compress the spring 30, the rubber cushion 27 will prevent the jar that would take place if an unyielding surface were to come into contact with the surface 9. It `the foot fails to engage the supporting suisv face squarely, or if the surface is inclined to one side or ano-ther, the heel portion can twist about the bolt 22 thereby preventing undue strain on the stump. By the Vmeans described a full natural foot movement isv ber, a heel member located in said cut out,

means for securing said heel member in place, said means vpermitting the heel to oseillate about transverse and longitudinal axes,- the formerfof which isstat-ionary with respectto both the ankle and toefportion ot the 'body member andthe latter of which may 'oscillate about the former and means comprising aA spring and a stop for nor,- mally holding the heel vin a predetermined position and tori-permitting it tor'yield upwardly whenweight is applied the-reto.'y

2. An artificial foot having an integral body member embodying the .ankle and toe portions and -a separate heel portion, means for attaching the heelportion tothe body member lin such a way that itl mayl move about a transverse axis and about a longitudinal aXis. y s y An artificial foot comprising, in combination, a body member havin-g aient away portion at the heel, anotch openinginto said cut away portion, a heel member adapted to fit into said cut away portfi'omsaid member having a part that projects into said notch, means for securing said heel portion to lthe body member, said Vmeans comprising ahinge having two hinge pins one of which extends transversely ot the foot and the other of which extends longitudinally of the foot and means :comprising a spring for moving said heel portion about the transverse hinge pin.

4f. An artiiicial foot comprising, in Conrbination, a body member having a cut away y portion at the heel, a notch openinginto said cut away portion, a heel member adapted to iit into said cut away portion, said member having a part that projects into said notch, means for securing said heel portion to the body member, said means comprising a hinge having two hinge pins one of which extends transversely of the yfoot vand the other ot which extends longitndinallyof,the foot, means comprising a spring for moving said heel portion about the transverse hinge pinand mea-ns for guiding said heel portion as it moves about the transverse hingefpin'.

An artiiicial `foot comprising, in 'combination, a body portioma heel portion pivotally attached thereto by means which permits it to move abouttwo aires extending at right angles to each other, one oit said aXfe's eiltending transversely land the other longitudinally of the foot', means for limiting the inoven'i'ent about either one of the axes and means com# prising a spring for eXerti-ng a force on the heel portion to move the same in one direction. y p a, l A,

In testimony whereof I atli'X my signature.

ARTHUR E. 'GINES 

